Match-making machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. 0. DONNELLY.

MATCH MAKING MACHINE. N0. 524,197. Patented Aug. 7, 1894.

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(No Model.) 3 Shets-Sheet 2. J. O. DONNELL Y.

MATCH MAKING MAGHINE. No. 524,197. Patented Aug-7,1894.

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UNITED STATES;

PATENT @FFICE."

JOSEPH O. DONNELLY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MATCH-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 524,197, dated August7, 1894.

Application filed lEehrnary 8, 1894. Serial No. 499,437. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH O. DONNELLY, a citizen of the United States,residingin the city and county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inMatch-Making Machines, of which the following is afull, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had ,to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of thisspecification.

' This invention relates to improvements in match making machines, thesame being especially, though not exclusively, applicable to that classtermed bunching or coiling machin eswherein thematch splints preparatoryto their being dipped, are transferred from-a feed hopper to a bunchingspool by means of an interposed conveyer, suchconveyer being,ordinarily, a peripherally-serrated roller, or a series ofco-actingcorrespondingly-serrated rollers.

' My improvements consist first, in a construction of thehopper andoperating mechanism therefor, whereby, among other advantages,thefeeding of the splints to the conveyer may be checked at predeterminedintervals; secondly, to a novel means for transferring the splints fromone conveyor or roller to another adjacent thereto; thirdly, in meansfor varying the speed of the machine during certain stages of thebunching operation;

'fourthly, in means for automatically apply- I ing a fastening device tothe bunching web o f S th'e perip'herally serrated roller 3communiinvention.

when the full complement of splints has been assembled thereby and,finally, in various novelfeatures of construction and arrangement ofparts co-operating to produce an efficient automatic bunching machine,all as will be hereinafter fully described in detail, and be defined inthe appended claims.

In the the annexed drawings, .Figure 1 is a sectional plan of a machineembodying my Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalvertical section as on theline w-oc of Fig. 1. Fig.4 is a View of thegovernor wheel detached. Fig. 4 is a section as on the line y-y of Fig.4. Fig. 5 is a view of a'bundle of splints.

' The numeral 1 marks the main supporting frame in' which are supportedthe hopper 2,

catin g therewith, the second correspondinglythe gearing 4 for rotatingsaid rollers in such manner that their peripheral serrations shallsuccessively register. I

5 is the bunching spool which 'is suitably supported on a shaft 6mounted on a vibratory arm 7 in reference to the roller 4.

8 is the bunching tape or web, which is passed around a mediancircumferential groove in said last-named roller and engaged with thebunching'spool and 7 is an appropriate sprocket gearing for rotatingsaid spool supporting shaft relatively to the serrated rollers, wherebythe match splints, transferred from the hopper to the bunching spoolshall be taken up and tightly wound by and between the coils of the web.

The hopper 2 is constructedwith a recess 9 in the forward lower cornerthereof to re ceive the periphery of the serrated roller 3 duringthetraverse of the latter, whereby the splints contained in the hopper aretaken up separately by the. succeeding depressions in said roller. Thishopper instead of being fixed,

as heretofore, in respect to the'path of the roller is movabletherefrom, and is provided withinwardly' projecting ledges 10 that ex--.

tend to, or nearly to, the respective edges of that portion of theperiphery of the drum that extends within the hopper,that is to say,these ledges are segments formed and arranged concentrically with theroller.

When the hopper is in the operative posi tion the ledges lie belowthenotches or depressions in the roller 3 so that they donot interferewith the free feeding of the splints to the roller, but when the hopperis raised or moved outward the ledges are thrown outwardly from theperiphery of the roller, to 6 maintain the splints beyond the path ofthe f latter, in which case, as is obvious, the roller i turns idly inthe hopper.

By moving the hopper bodily the movement of the contained splints inreference to the carrier may be effected more positively and uniformlythan if the bottom of the hopper or a portion thereof were moved asheretofore,

for the reason that in the latter construction the entire body ofsplints rests upon the mov able portion of the hopper and necessitatespressure directly against the splints. Besides this, such movableportion being necessarily unsupported laterally, is apt to be broken ordisplaced by the weight of the body of splints thereon.

While there is more than one way whereby parted thereto, I shalldescribe a construction which is efficient and desirable, as follows:Fixed on the sides of the hopper are blocks or projections 11 that arefitted to suitably inclined guide-ways 12 formed by the walls of slotsin up-rising post 13, on the main frame, whereby the hopper may bereciprocated radially in respect to the adjacent roller. On the end ofthe frame are boxes 14 in which is journaled a rock-shaft 15 from whichextend upwardly inclined arms 16 that embrace the sides of the hopper.The upper ends of these arms are connected with the respective sides ofthe hopper by pin and slot connections 17, or in any other way, wherebythe desired movement of the hopper may be had by properly turning therock-shaft. This shaft is provided with an operating handle 18. Thehopper is preferably held normally retracted, or inactive, by means of asuitably arranged spring or weight. In the present instance I haveillustrated for this purpose a retracting spring 19, one end of which issecured to the handle and the other end to the frame.

To maintain the hopper conditionally dcpressed, or in action against thestress .of the spring, I have provided a latch device which comprises ahorizontally disposed lever 20 fulcrumed on the bracket 21 extendingfrom the main frame, and provided with a notch or shoulder 22immediately below the rock shaft. Depending from this shaft is an arm ordog 23 against the lower end of which the lever is normally maintainedby means of a weight 24 (or spring) on one end of the lever. The notchor shoulder 22 is so arranged in respect to the dog that when the rockshaft is turned to depress the hopper, the end of the dog swings abovethe notch, the lever arm thereupon ascending and in consequence lockingthe dog in the notch. The instant the arm is depressed the dog is freedfrom the notch and the hopper, through the action of the spring 19, isquickly retracted. I have provided means to trip the latch leverautomatically at a predetermined .intervalflduring the bu nchingoperation which means will be described in due course.

In order to insure theproper alignment of the splints in the hopper,preparatory to their being fed to the roller 3, I journal in and betweena pair of depending ears 25 on the bottom of the hopper, so as tobefreely revoluble, a peripherally milled roller 26, the periphery ofwhich projects veryslightly within the hopper, as shown. The splints onthe bottom of the hopper, as they are agitated by the usual vibratoryback 27, take against the projecting periphery of the roller and aresquared thereby.

' The means whereby the hopper back is agimaintain the latter yieldinglyagainst the eccentric. Hence during the rotation of the eccentric arapid vibration of the hopper back is effected. This construction, aswill be observed, does not interfere with the bodily reciprocation ofthe hopper above described.

The roller 3 as above stated is formed with transverse notches in itsperiphery, which are designed to receive the splints contained in thehopper-and convey them successively to or opposite to correspondingnotches in the adjoining roller 4, whence they are conducted to thebunchingcoil. Ordinarily the splints are transferred from the first 'tothe second roller by means of a curved finger or stripper device that isinterposed between the two rollers, which device, however, owing to thefragility of the splints and the nature of the work to be performedrequires nice fitting and adjustment, otherwise good results cannot behad. To obviate the necessity of using this stripper device, I providethe roller 3,in each of its peripheral notches, with a series ofperforations 31, whereby, upon each splint being advanced in proximityto the notch of the roller 4, a blast of air may be blown through theperforations rearward of the par ticular splint to impel the splint withprecision to such proximate notch.

It being obvious that the air blast may be directed to the perforationsin various ways, I do not restrict myself to the particular meansillustrated for this purpose, although I would remark that that means isvery efficient and desirable. As shown, it comprises twolaterally-perforated tube sections 32, arranged within the roller 3 toextend parallel with, andrearward of, each series of periph-v eralperforations when the latter are opposite a notch of the roller 4. Theorifices in the sections are directed toward the rim of the roller, andthey are of the same number and relative arrangement as the series ofperforations in each notch of the roller. These sections are connectedwith a common pipe 33 ,that is, in turn, connected with the dischargenozzle of a fan 34 or other air blast engine. In the present instancethe fan -is driven from a pulley 35 on the end of the shaft of roller 3by means of a belt 36. By this construction it will be evident thatwhile the machine is in operation, the air blast, generated by the fan,will be forced through'the orifices in the pipe sections, thereupon, asthe notches of, the roller successively register with those of theroller 4, effectingthe requisite transference of the splints.

Disposed adjacent to the rollers, in proximity to the path traversed bythe splints during theirtransmissionfrom the hopper to the bunchingcoil, are the usual curved guard plates 37 that are intended to preventthe splints from accidentally falling from their grooves.

The bunchin g tape or web 8, as before mentioned, is passed around amedian circumferential groove in the roller 4, and is connected with therotatable spool 5. In practice, the spool, at the outset, makes severalrevolutions preparatoryto the delivery of the splints to the coil,whereupon the splints are delivered and the winding thereof continueduntil the coil has reached a proper size. This done,

' the feeding of the splints is arrested while the remainder of the webis wound around 15 the coil, at the completion of which a staple, tack,or other fastening device, is driven by the attendant in the free end ofthe web to secure the latter. I

A feature of my invention consists in the provision of automaticmechanisms whereby when the desired complement of splints has beenwound, the splint feeding operation will be arrested; the remainder ofthe web will be wound with rapidity; the winding operation will bechecked, and the fastener will be inserted; which mechanisms I shall nowproceed to describe as follows:

38 designates a hollow shaft mounted in suitable bearings in the mainsupporting frame, through which shaft extends a longitudinally movableshaft 39. On the hollow shaft are loosely supported the two sections 40,41 of a variable speed friction pulley between the opposed beveled facesof which sections is interposed a clutch member 42. Thisclutch member issplined to the shaft 38, so as to be movable to and from the opposedface of either of the pulley sections, and it is connected with theinner shaft by means of a pin 43 which extends through a slot 44 in thehollow shaft. 7 Hence by properly moving the inner shaft, the clutchmember may be engaged with either of the loose pulley sections or bedisengaged from both. The pulley sections are driven by suitable belting44 from a cone pulley 45 on an upper power driven shaft 46, which conepulley is designed to impel the pulley section 40 at a normal speed andthe other section 41 at a higher rate of speed. Consequently, when theclutch memher is engaged with either of the pulley sections, the shaftis driven at a normal or fast speed as the case may be.

.Variable speedmechauism of this particular description is not new perse. In fact, there areother known constructions that may be used equallywell in lieu thereof.

On the shaft 38 is keyed the pinion 47,

V which,co-acting with the gear train of the several parts, transmitsthe motion thereto. On one end of the rocking shaft 48 to which as keyedthe arm 7, that supports the bunching spool and its adjuncts, is fixedlysecured a forwardly-extending toothedsector 49, the teethof which meshwith those of a pinion 50. This pinion is freely supported on arevolulole stud 51 that projects outward from the side of the frameworkyand in this instance its diameter in reference to the face of thesegment is such that a complete stroke of the latter will rotate thepinion one revolution. By a complete stroke of the sector is meant itstraverse or upward movement by the risclutch members are so disposedthat during the upward traverse of the sector, the'pinion during itsrotation correspondingly rotates the s pring-actuated member 53, and,perforce, the stud; but that during its downward traverse the pinion isrotated freely without affectingthe shaft. v

The shaft is-provided with a ratchet wheel 55, with which engages a pawl56 the 'function of which is to prevent backward movement of the shaft.Fast on this shaft, near its outer end, is a wheel 57, which I ter'm'thegovernor wheel. On one face of this wheel isformed or secured aconcentric circular track '58 that is interrupted at a suitable part Iof its periphery by a depressed portion 59, which depressed portion isprovided with an inclined or raised part 60.

Bearing against the track is a stud 61 on the free end of ahorizontally-disposed lever 62 that is fulcrumed, at m, to ab'racket 63extending from the adjacent side of the main frame. This stud is heldyielding] y against the track by means of a retracting spring 64 securedto the forward arm of the'lever and to the said frame. This arm isconnected with the shaft 39, in any' suitable manner whereby theposition of the lever will control that of the shaft as will presentlyappear In the present instance the forward lever arm is slotted toembrace a circumferentially grooved collar 65 on the projecting end ofthe shaft 39, a pin 66 on the arm engaging the groove in the collar;This arm is' provided with a handle 67 whereby the lever may be operatedby an attendant.

The parts are so constructed and organized that while the pin is bearingupon the raised portion 58 of the track, the shaft 39 is sufficientlyretracted to maintain the clutch member 42 in action with the normalspeed pulley section 40; when the pin'is bearing'upon the deeper face ofthe depressed portion of the track, immediately following the planepart, the shaft is projected to maintain such clutch member in.engagement with the fastspeed pulley section 41, and when the pin isbearing upon the raised face of the depressed portion of the track theshaft is in the interme diate position to maintain theclntch member idlybetween the two pulley sections Onthe outer face of the wheel 57 is atappet pin 63, into the path of which'projects'the latch lever 20,hereinbefore described in con- 1 sumed proper proportions.

nection with the hopper, which pin at a prescribed period during therevolution of the wheel is adapted to abut against said lever andthereby free the hopper to check the feeding of the splints to themachine.

When the machine is at rest the hopper occupies the raised positionabove described, the stud on the lever 62 being engaged with theintermediate face 60 of the track.

Preparatory to the bunehing operation the operator pulls outwardly thehandle of the lever 62 thereby throwing the clutch member 42 intoengagement with the pulley section 40, and, perforce, starting themachine. The bunching spool, with the end of the web secured thereto,having been mounted on the shaft 6, the spool, during its rotation,winds the web thereon. During such winding the arm 7 is moved graduallyupward, thereby correspondingly moving the sector 49, which, in turn,actuates the pinion 50, its stud 51,

and the wheel 57. When the requisite initial winding of the web has beeneffected, the operator releases the lever handle, whereupon the stud 61takes against the projecting face of the track, which at this stage hasadvancedin front of the stud, said track thereby maintainingthe machinein operation, as above mentioned. He then raises the handle 18 on therock shaft 15, so as-to depress the hopper and thus to permit thefeeding of the splints to the machine, the depending dog 23 there uponentering the recess in the latch lever and being locked therein. Thisbeing done, the splints are conveyed to the bunching web as previouslyset forth and the-winding thereof carried on until the coil has ,as-

At this juncture the depressed portion of the track 58 which has beensteadily advancing, reaches the stud 61 of the lever 62, whereupon thespring 64 retracts the forward arm of the lever in a manner to throw theclutch member into engagement with the speed pulley section, and at thesame time the tappet pin 68 strikes the latch lever 20 and releases thehopper, which latter, springing upward, checks the feeding of thesplints to the machine. Hence the bunching spool runs ata high rate ofspeed and winds up quickly and tightly upon the coil the remainder ofthe Web. When this has been accomplished the portion of the track hasbeen advanced in front of the stud on the lever 62, thereupon arrestingthe op-.

therein, provided on its lower end with a blade 74, and a horizontallydisposed staple holding bar extending rearwardly from the plunger caseand communicating with the space 76 in the plunger case traversed by theblade 74. Y

77 is a follower that embraces the staple bar, rearward of the staples,and acts yieldingly against the latter to feed them forward, there beingprovided laterally disposed retracting springs 78 that tend to drawforward the follower. Thus when the plunger is elevated a staple z liesimmediately beneath the blade 74 so that a sharp blow upon the head ofthe plunger will effect the driving of such staple into the substancebeneath. Upon the elevation of the plunger the leadingstaple on the baris fed beneath the plunger blade by the follower, in readinessfor'another operation, the feeding of the successive staples on the barbeing efiected in like manner.

Staple drivers being,in themselves, well known, it is thought that theabove brief description thereof will suffice. In this connection I wouldadd that the construction of the staple driver is immaterial so far asthis feature of my invention is concerned. In fact,

if desired, any automatic tack or nail driving device may be substitutedfor the'staple inserting mechanism.

Extending over and above the head of the plunger is the free end of alever 79,- the other end thereof being pivoted to a bracket 79supportedby the upright 71. The free end of the leveris weighted, asaty, for a purpose below described. Embracing the lever just forward ofits fulcrum is the forked upper end of a vertically-movable rod 80whichis supported in guide arms 81 extending from the upright, whereby,when said rod is raised, the lever will be elevated, and the converse.

Fixed on the boss of the swinging arm 7, or integral therewith, ifdesired, is a collar 82 which is provided at a suitable pointin itsperiphery with a notch or recess 83. This collar is of such diameterthat when the rod' is resting upon its periphery, the lever ismaintained in the elevated position shown in Fig. 3, but the instant thenotch or recess is advanced below the rod, the weighted'end of the leverbeing unsupported, drops sharply upon the head of the plunger 73, and,inconsequence, drives the staple (or other fastener) into the coilbeneath.

The forked portion of the rod is preferably equipped with ananti-friction roller 84 upon which the lever bears.

The collar is so arranged relatively to the removedfrom the machine, therod 80 being interlocked with the collar, prevents the arm 7 fromdescending until the rod and the lever 79'are raised. Thus the winding.shaft on the arm is temporarily held up in convenient position toreceive another bunching spool.

In order that the operation of the machine may be stopped at any timeduring the bunching period, should occasion require it, without anyliability of disconcerting the governor wheel}? I mount the pulley 45loosely on its shaft 46 and provide the latter with a suitable clutch 85 that may be readily engaged with or disengaged from said pulley.

In the present instance this. clutch is a tapered wheel splined to theshaft and adapted to engage the correspondingly tapered portion of thepulley 45, a suitable lever 86 being provided to facilitate therequisite movements of the clutch wheel. w is simply a metallic clipapplied to the end of the bunching tape or web to prevent the fraying ofthe latter.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, with the continuously movingsplint carrier and mechanism for operating the same, ing hopper thereforprovided with ledges or flanges adjacent to said carrier, a rock shaftarms thereon connected with said hopper, and

lateral supports adapted to guide the hopper radially in respect to thecarrier, whereby the said ledges or flanges may be moved below thecarrying surface to permit th e removal by the latter of the splintsfrom the hopper, or be moved above such surface to prevent their removalsubstantially as described.

- 2. The combination, with the splint carrier,

of a movable splint feeding hopper therefor provided with ledges orflanges adjacent to said carrier, a rock-shaft and arms thereonconnected with said hopper, together with means adapted to maintain saidhopper normally retracted from the carrier, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the splint carrier,

of a movable splint feeding hopper therefor provided with ledges orflanges adjacent to a said carrier, a rock shaft, arms thereonconnected-with the hopper, means for normally retracting said hopperfrom the carrier, a le ver, and a trip connection between the same andthe rock shaft, substantially as described' of a movable splint feed--pendently for automatically actuating said lever when parts,,of a splintfeeding hopper provided with splint-supporting ledges or flangesadjacentto the carrier, means whereby said hopper is normallyheld beyond thepath of said carrier,

means whereby it may be maintained in the path of the carrier, and meansfor automatically releasing the hopper when the bunching coil hasreached a predetermined size; substantially as described. 7 Y

6. The combination with the hopper, the splint carrier, the bunchingspool, the vibratory supporting arm therefor, the bunching tape or web;and means for actuating said spool, of the sector connected with saidarm, the pinion, its shaft'or stud, a clutch connection between saidshaft or stud and the pinion the governor wheel on said shaft or studand connections intermediate thesame and the hopper for arresting thefeeding of the'splints to the carrier at a predetermined period;substantially as described.

7. In a match making machine, the combination, with the hopper providedwith an opening therein for the discharge of the match splints, andprovided with a transverse opening or channel in the bottom thereofrearward of the discharge opening, of an inderevoluble rollertransversely mounted below said hopper in such manner that its peripheryprojects slightly into the hopper through said rearward opening orchannel, and means rearward'of, and separate from, said roller foragitating the splints contained in the hopper, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a match making machine the combination withtwo serrated co-actingsplint carriers, one of which is provided with perforations or openingsin the grooves of the serrations, of a blast device arranged within saidperforated carrier and adapted during the traverse thereof to transferthe splints in the successively advancing grooves of that oarrier to theregistering groove of the adjacent carrier; substantially as, described.

9. In a match making machine, the combination with two peripherallyserrated splint carrying rollers and means for concertedly rotating thesame, one of which rollers is provided with perforations or openings inthe grooves of the serrations,of a perforated tube arranged within saidperforated roller and a fan or air blast engine connected with saidtube, whereby the splints in the successively advancing grooves of theperforated carrier are transferred to the registering grooves of theadjacent carrier, substantially as described.

IIO

10. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool and its co-acting tape orweb,

of a driving shaft provided with a differential speed device, and meanswhereby a fast speed is automatically thrown into action when apredetermined number of splints has been coiled, substantially asdescribed.

11. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool and its co-acting tape or web, of a drivingshaft provided with a differential pulley thereon, a clutch therefor,and means for automatically transferring said clutch to the fasterpulley section when a predetermined number of splints has been coiled;substantially as described.

12. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool and its co-acting tape or web, of a drivingshaft provided with a difierential speed device thereon, means wherebythe feeding of the splints may be arrested, at a predetermined periodand means whereby a fast speed is thrown into action at such period,substantially as described.

13. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a

bunching spool and its co-acting tape or web,

of a hollow shaft, provided with-a differential pulley thereon, theclutch therefor, an

st ud, the driving shaft, a differential speed de vice thereon, andconnections intermediate said governor wheel and the differentialspeeddevice, substantially as described.

15. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool, and a co-acting bunching tape or web, of afastener inserting device, and means; for automatically actuating saiddevice to inserta fastener in the coil when the winding of the tape orweb has been completed; substantially as described.

16. In a match making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool, a vibratory supporting arm therefor, abunching tape or web, a fastener inserting device, a trip lever adjacentto the plunger thereof, a supportingrod for said plunger and means fortripping said rod when the winding of the tape or web has beencompleted; substantially as described.

17. In a match-making machine, the combination with a hopper, a splintcarrier, a bunching spool, a vibratory supporting arm therefor, abunching tape or web, a fastener inserting device, a trip lever adjacentto the plunger thereof, a supporting rod for said plunger, a notchedcollar or support connected with the vibratory arm and adapted to sus-'tain said rod during the winding of the tape or web and to trip saidrod at the completion of the winding operation, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto af fixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH C. DONNELLY.

Y WVitnesses:

J OHN R. NOLAN, J ESSE B. HELLER.

